Grid Battery Metals Inc. [TSXV: CELL; OTCQB: EVKRF; FRA: W47] reported that the first phase of the fall exploration program has been completed by the company’s Canadian contract geological team, Hardline Exploration.

Founded in 2014, Hardline is a leading geological consulting firm operating in Western Canada. Hardline works directly with local contractors and first nations to ensure their projects receives the most efficient and dedicated exploration services available. They specialize in executing complex exploration programs to generate new discoveries and have a proven record of successful projects incorporating highly skilled geologists and team members.

2025 exploration program: Tim Fernback, president and CEO, commented: “We’re excited to have previously acquired approximately 275 km² of tenures in such a favourable mining region within British Columbia, Canada. This area of the province has already generated several promising projects, and our land package is strategically situated to exploit the high gold-copper values of the region.

“NorthWest Copper Corp. on the nearby Kwanika project intercepted 400 metres of 1.01% copper equivalent. Nearby the Mount Milligan open pit gold-copper mine operated by Centerra Gold recently announced its prefeasibility study that extended the life of its open pit mining by about 10 years. The area has proven itself to be a great place to look for both gold and copper. British Columbia is well known to be a safe and mining-friendly jurisdiction with reasonable government permitting processes and great mining infrastructure.”

Fernback continued: “We have recently concluded our initial exploration program on two of the five claim blocks recently acquired as part of our fall exploration phase 1. Here a large assaying, trenching, sampling and geophysics program was strategically situated within the Jupiter and Starlight claim blocks. We expect to have these assay results by the end of the fall with next exploration steps identified on the various claim blocks shortly thereafter.

“The exploration program follows up on previous work conducted by others in 2023 and includes geochemistry across various untested magnetic features on Starlight and Jupiter claims. The areas on these two large claim blocks include detailed soil sampling, mapping and prospecting on eight targeted areas for both gold and copper initially identified by our geological team.”

The company acquired a 100% interest in 17 mineral claims comprising 27,525 hectares (approximately 275 km²) located in north-central British Columbia. The region is host to numerous operating mines, good infrastructure including experienced exploration and supporting services. Prominent among early discoveries in the Omineca region include the nearby Lustdust/Stardust copper-gold deposit; the Kwanika copper-gold deposit and the Lorraine copper deposit (all of which are owned by (NorthWest Copper).

The company’s claims are also located between Centerra Gold’s prominent copper/gold assets, the Kemess North project and the operating Mount Milligan mine, which has produced over 1.8 million ounces of gold and 742 million pounds of copper.

B.C. Minfile assessment report data indicates that most of the area covered by the copper property was at one time or another covered by staking during surges of exploration in B.C. dating from the 1940s to present day. Largely, the claims appear to have been minimally explored with little follow-up. However, some work was recorded on several claims with results for stream sediment sampling showing anomalous to highly anomalous results for gold in a few areas. These areas were recommended for detailed follow-up; however, due to a downturn no further work was recorded.

The Omineca Group claim areas are within the northern Quesnel trough underlain by Cache Creek terrane and lies close to the Pinchi fault. The Quesnel trough hosts numerous porphyry copper-gold deposits. The Pinchi fault can be traced for 600 km through north-central B.C. and separates Cache Creek rocks from the Jurassic Hogem batholith and Triassic-Jurassic Takla rocks to the west. There are at least two alkalic gold-copper porphyry systems in the immediate Lustdust (now known as Stardust) area: J49 and Axel properties (Schiarrizza, 2000).

In other news, the company has announced that it has formally dropped the Volt Canyon lithium property from its Nevada lithium exploration portfolio.

The company had a 100% interest in 80 placer claims covering approximately 635 hectares of alluvial sediments and clays located 122 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada, but accessing the property proved difficult and initial sampling results were considered average and not exceptional by the company’s geological team.

The company owns a 100% interest in the Texas Spring property which consists of mineral lode claims located in Elko County, Nevada. The property is in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nev., about 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Nevada. The target is a lithium clay deposit in volcanic tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Humbolt formation. A phase 1 exploration program at the Texas Springs property (fall 2023) yielded average lithium grades of 2,010 parts per million, applying a 1,000 ppm cut-off and up to 5,610 ppm lithium.

The Texas Spring property adjoins the southern border of the Nevada North lithium project – owned by Surge Battery Metals Inc. and comprising 725 mineral claims. Surge’s first round of drilling identified strongly mineralized lithium-bearing clays. The average lithium content within all near-surface clay zones intersected in the 2022 drilling program, applying a 1,000 ppm cut-off, was 3,254 ppm. More recent results have shown higher-grade lithium up to 8,070 ppm on this property after initial drilling. The company’s exploration results are on trend with these results.

The company owns a 100% interest in 113 lithium lode and placer claims covering over 930 hectares in Clayton Valley. Clayton Valley is a down-dropped closed basin formed by the Miocene age Great basin extension and is still active due to movement along the Walker Lane structural zone.

As a result, the basin has preserved multiple layers of lithium-bearing volcanic ash, resulting from multiple eruptive events over the past six million years including eruptions from the 700,000-year-old Long Valley Caldera system and related events. These ash layers are thought to contribute to the lithium brines extracted by Albemarle and are also likely involved in the formation of the exposed lithium-rich clay deposits on the east side of Clayton Valley.